Appendix 6 - International Music Council

In many countries there are explicit attempts to foster musical diversity and to integrate a
multitude of musical genres in the curricula as for example in Germany.
World music and traditional musics of the world are particularly strong in some parts of
Scandinavia, such as Sweden, and in other countries, such as the Netherlands. Interestingly
enough, interest in world music and the musics of "the Other" is particularily strong in
cities (according to Franz Niermann). Perhaps this is due to fact that in the urban situations
tend to favor the encounter of many musical identities.
Sometimes the focus on the musics of "the Other" is explained with a colonial past of some
countries, but this explanation cannot cover all the cases, since some of the countries
developing such a focus, like Sweden, do not have a distinct colonial past.
Musical diversity is explicitly mentioned in many curricula, for example in those of
Niedersachsen, one of Germany's federal states (see example below). Pupils are supposed
to be made acquainted with a multiplicity musical forms and styles.
Universities and Conservatories
Music education in universities and conservatories mostly mirrors the situation in schools –
at least as far as the musical practice is concerned. There is a clear concentration on
classical music in most of Europe's countries. But other music genres are taught as well.
They mainly come from the broad and economically relevant field of popular music such as
jazz, musical and rock and pop. In some countries with a strong identification on folk
music, such as Bulgaria, there are possibilities to study folk music and related styles. Nonwestern
musical genres are taught more rarely in practice, for example at the SOAS in
London and the World Music and Dance Centre of Codarts, University of Professional Arts
Education in Rotterdam (comp. http://www.hmd.nl/). There have also been some promising
pilot projects searching for approaches to multiculturality e.g. through introducing
conservatory students to world music practices (www.aecinfo.org/connect ).
In field of musicology, used here as an umbrella term for all activities in the domain of
music research, classical music and music history prevail all over Europe, especially in
countries with a strong tradition of art music, such as Austria and Germany. There are other
domains of research such as ethnomusicology and popular music studies, but they are rarely
represented by specialists in the universities.
Public und private music schools
Many countries provide facilities for a optional music education next to the music lessons
in the school system or the framework of universities. Usually, the services of such music
schools address young people. Today, many of Europe's countries have private and public
institutions offering practical music lessions. More rarely, such instutions also provide
theoretical information from the musicological domain.
Usually, the music dealt with in such institutions concentrates on Western art music, i.e.
'classical' music. Sometimes other musical genres, for example popular music, are dealt
with as well. In countries strongly identifying with their folk culture there is also a
considerable amount lession devoted music styles associated with folk music.
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